Johannes hundhausen



NITED STATES PATENT FFlCE.,

J OHANNES HUNDHAUSEN, OF H AMM, GERMANY.

DRIER FOR SEMIFLUID MATERIAL.

SPECIFICATION formi ng part of Letters Patent No. 594,085, datedNovember 23, 1897. Application filelJue 10, 1896.

To all whom it may coi Learn.-

Be it known that I, J OHANNES HUNDHAUSEN, a subject of the King ofPrussia, and a resident of Hamm, in Rhenish Prussia and Kingdom ofPrussia, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inthe Method of and Apparatus for Drying Semi fluid and Like Materials, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the methodof and apparatus for dryingsemifluids and like substances, such as syru ps and various slimy andsticky products.

According to this invention the substance to be dried is fed in thin'layers upon rotating surfaces or cylinders which may be heatedinternally or externally, or both, with or without the assistance of anair-current.

It will be obvious that many arrangements of the drying-cylinders may beemployed in such a manner that the material to be dried thereon may beapplied to their rotating surfaces, from which it finally drops or isscraped off. By depositing the substance in uniform thin layers upon therotating cylinders it is prevented from fiowing off and is in the bestcondition for giving up its moisture. As the layers of material beingdried are to be very thin, it follows that the cylinders must not beheavy nor require considerable drivin g power and that their sufacesmust be perfectly smooth, as irregularities produce correspondingirregularities in the thickness of the layer. Hence when the ordinarythichness of the layer is dried and drops off a thicker part will not bedry and will continue to adhereto the cylinder, exaggerating the defectin successive layers of the material coming on the cylinder to be dried.

The following three conditions are to be observed: First, the surface ofeach cylinder must be as large as possible; second, each cylinder mustbe rotatable with a small eX- penditure of energy; third, the surface ofthe cylinder must be as smooth as possible.

These conditions must be borne in mind in the Construction, first, ofthe cylinder, and, second of the whole system:

First. The cylinder must not be constructed of cast metal nor of rivetedor soldered sheets, because the cylinder would in the first case be tooheavy and in the second case its sur- Serial No. 594,9'71. (No model.)

face would not be sufiiciently smooth. Each cylinder should have adiameter 'of at least l twelve inches, and it cannot, therefore, bedrawn or pressed in one piece. I find that the cylinder is thereforebest constructed of thin sheet metal with the edges of the metalelectrically welded. The seam produced is reduced by grinding it down. Acylinder so constructed having a lengthof siX feet siX inches and acircumference of three feet three inches has a weight of onlytwenty-twopounds.

. Second. The system which I prefer to employ is illustrated by theaccompanying drawings and hereinafter described with reference thereto.e

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a vertical section, and Fig. 2 asectional plane.

The ends of the cylinders O are fitted with centers, on which are formedor secured coaxial pinions S S, bored for the reception of spindles uponwhich the cylinders can rotate. The series of cylinders O are mountedparallel with each other upon and between two parallel frames B B, uponwhich the pinions S S can run and by means of which the cylinders willbe caused to rotate. This arrangement is found to be preferable to thatof a rack on the frames gearing with the wheels S S,'inasnuch as thelinear eXpansion of the *rack under heat increases the pitch of therack-teeth and prevents perfect gearng and smooth action. Parallel withand outside the frames B B there are endless chains k, running upon thechain-wheels K K', of which the wheels K have their aXes in fixedbearings and the other, K', in adjustable bearings, so that the chainsmay be kept tight with Variations of temperature by moving the bearingsof K' farther from or nearer to Kby means of the hand-wheels T, as maybe required. The chains carry at suitable inter- Vals spindles R, whichare fitted into the holes in the wheels S, and thus form centers uponwhich the cylinders can rotate. The wheel K being rotated by suitablepower and gearing the whole system of cylinders is caused to travelaround their axes by the contact of their wheels with the frames. Theframes are made adj ustable,together with the wheel K', and for the samereason, by means of an overlapping joint.

IOO

The apparatus is arranged within a chamber A through an opening E, inwhich the material can be supplied to the roller. BetWeen the ends ofthe series of eylnders there may be arranged suitable heatingappliances, and at F there may be an inlet for the hot air. The numberof eylinders will in every ease be determined by the nature and amountof Work to be done and in the simplest cases one such eylinder may besuffieient. When the material is dry, it falls from the eylnders intothe bottom of the ehamber, whenee it may be removed.

Having now described my invention, what I claim is- A drying apparatuseomprising a series of eylinders, an endless ehain for moving saidcylinders, drivng means for the said hains, parallel frames Band pinionsS earried by the spindles of the eylnders and engaging the frames B torotate the eylinders, substantially as described.

Signed at Cologne, in the Provinee of Rhineland and Kingdom of Prussia,Germany, this 3lst day of March, A. D. 1896.

JOHANNES HUNDHAUsEN.

Witnesses:

Sornm NAGEL, WILLIAM I-I. MADDEN.

